Women's Hockey Moves Up to No. 6, Visits No. 9 Northeastern Tuesday

Sarah Edney has been a key defender for the Crimson this season (photo Gil Talbot).

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The No. 6 Harvard women's ice hockey team will step out of ECAC play for a matchup against No. 9 Northeastern. The crosstown rivals Crimson and Huskies are slated for a 7 p.m. start at NU's Matthews Arena.

About Harvard The Crimson (6-1-0, 6-0-0 ECAC) is off to an undefeated, untied start in ECAC play after upsetting No. 2 Cornell, 3-1, Nov. 23. Harvard snapped the Big Red's eight-game winning streak with its first win over Cornell in its last eight tries.

The Crimson's defense has been Harvard's strongest asset to date. The goaltending tandem of freshman Emerance Maschmeyer and Laura Bellamy is allowing just 0.71 goals per game, good for second in the country. Maschmeyer leads the NCAA in goals against average at 0.67 and is tied for first in save percentage (.961), while Bellamy follows close behind with a 0.75 GAA (2nd) and .957 save percentage (3rd).

Harvard's offense has also been impressive, averaging 3.71 goals per contest. Senior Jillian Dempsey leads the squad with 11 points, including six goals, and is riding an 21-game points streak. Junior Lyndsey Fry, who was part of Team USA's gold-medal winning club at the Four Nations Cup in Finland, has tallied five goals and six assists.

Last Time OutJillian Dempsey scored a goal and assisted on the game-winner as the then-No. 7 Harvard women's ice hockey team snapped then-No. 2 Cornell's eight-game win streak, 3-1, to remain unbeaten in ECAC Hockey play at Bright Hockey Center Nov. 24. Emerance Maschmeyer made 21 saves to pick up her third win of the season in goal and hand Cornell its first loss conference loss of the year.

About Northeastern (Team Page)
Northeastern (8-3-2, 4-3-1 WHEA) is on a two-game skid after dropping consecutive decisions to No. 5/6 Boston College Nov. 16 and Nov. 18. Other than an exhibition win over Russia Nov. 24, 6-4, the Huskies have not tallied a win since Nov. 10 when they beat Vermont, 4-1. Northeastern tied the Catamounts, 4-4, the next night to start their current three-game streak without a victory.

Kendall Coyne leads Northeastern on the offensive end with 2.27 points per game. The sophomore is fourth in the country in points per contest and also ranks third in goals per game (1.12) and sixth in assists per game (1.18). Senior Casey Pickett has contributed 12 goals to tie Coyne for the team lead and has added seven helpers to total 19 points. Pickett's classmate Rachel Llanes ranks third on the squad with 18 points on six goals and 12 assists.

Chloe Desjardins has started all 13 games in goal for the Huskies. She enters Tuesday's contest with a 2.16 goals against average and .924 save percentage. The sophomore has claimed three WHEA Defensive Player of the Week awards this season, as well as the conference's Goaltender of the Month honor in October.

Series HistoryHarvard leads the all-time series against Northeastern, 17-33-3, since the two teams first met in 1979. The Crimson had won six straight against the Huskies before the squads skated to a 3-3 tie in 2010-11. Northeastern and Harvard did not play last season for the first time since 2008-09. The crosstown foes have played at least once in 30 of Harvard's 34 years of women's hockey.

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"Jillian Dempsey of @harvardcrimson women's hockey, who ranks 5th in the country with 2.14 PPG, looks to improve her 21-game pts streak at NU"

Dempsey's Hot StreakJillian Dempsey, who ranks fifth in the country with 2.14 points per game, is riding a career-high 21-game points streak. Dempsey contributed a first period goal and an assist on the game-winner against Cornell Nov. 24 to keep her streak alive. The senior co-captain has tallied 23 goals and 18 assists for 1.95 points per game during the last 21 contests.

Killin' ItHarvard has denied its opponents in 20-of-21 power-play opportunities it has given up this season. The Crimson kill is ranked No. 1 in land at 95.2%. Since the start of the calendar year, the Crimson has allowed just eight power-play goals in 27 games, and has killed 91 of 99 opponent power plays.

Stay Out of the BoxOf the 34 teams in NCAA Division I women's college hockey, Harvard has been the least penalized this season. The Crimson has spent an average of 6.3 minutes in man-down situations, slightly ahead of Quinnipiac (6.4) and Bemidji State (6.6). Northeastern is 12th in the nation with 8.9 minutes per game.

D is the KeyThe Crimson's defense, led by the goaltending tandem of Emerance Maschmeyer and Laura Bellamy, has been one of the toughest to score on this season. Harvard has allowed just 0.71 goals per game to rank second in the nation in scoring defense behind Minnesota's 0.62 mark.

Best in the LandEmerance Maschmeyer leads the NCAA in goals against average at 0.67 and is tied for first in save percentage (.961) after last weekend's 21-save effort against Cornell. The freshman has won each of her first three starts this season to be one of just three goalies in the country to boast an undefeated, untied record in 2012-13.

In the RankingsThe Crimson, which was previously ranked No. 7, moved up to No. 6 in the latest USCHO poll released Nov. 26 after taking down No. 2 Cornell. Harvard's highest ranking of the season was No. 5 in the Nov. 12 USCHO list.

Easy TransitionFreshman Mary Parker has made an immediate impact on the ice this season. The newcomer ranks sixth among NCAA freshman with 1.29 goals per game. In the complete national charts, Parker is 14th in assists per game (1.00) and 27th in points per game.

Back of the NetThe Crimson's offense has been stellar this season, posting 3.71 goals per game in its first seven contests. Harvard's offensive output is ranked sixth in the NCAA to combine with its 0.71 goals against average for a 3.00 scoring margin. Only Minnesota (5.50) and Mercyhurst (3.29) have topped opponents by a higher margin.

Up Next
The Crimson hosts Dartmouth at 7 p.m. Friday before Team Russia visits Bright Hockey Center at 3 p.m. Saturday.